Don Bradman dominates the sport of cricket like no other cricketer does, and it can be argued that Bradman dominates the sport of cricket like no other sportsperson does their sport. But that is for another day. There are many factors to Bradman’s success. Of course, genetics would come into play, sheer talent, and hand-eye coordination. But one thing, at least statistically, stands out.
His average of 99.94 suggests that he simply did twice as much as regular batsmen. However, it isn’t that simple. It is impossible to imagine such a Herculean figure failing, but he did. Take the 1930 Ashes, in which Bradman scored 974 runs for the series, the most ever. 7 innings. Scores of 131, 254, 334 and 232 in 4 of those innings. But scores of 1, 8 and 14 in the other 3. If we define 20 runs as a batsman getting a start, this means that while Bradman only got a start just over half the time, he certainly made it count. And herein lies the secret to Bradman’s dominance. His teammate Arthur Morris once said that, although he was vulnerable early on, his sheer concentration after making a start was incredible. He simply could not understand how a batsman could make 60 or 70 and get out.
I have chosen 5 main groups, and 3 further groups of scores. Scores of 0 (ducks), below 20, 20+ (a start), 50+, 100+, 150+, 200+ and 300+. I have chosen a range of batsmen, some just for their high averages, others who frequently score double and triple centuries, and some standard contenders for best since Bradman, as to investigate how Bradman’s evaluation of a start compares to a wide range of batsmen.
Here are their overall career stats:
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 52 | 80 | 10 | 6996 | 99.94 | 334 | 29 | 13 | 7 |
| SPD Smith | 73 | 131 | 16 | 7227 | 62.84 | 239 | 26 | 29 | 4 |
| H Sutcliffe | 54 | 84 | 9 | 4555 | 60.73 | 194 | 16 | 23 | 2 |
| KF Barrington | 82 | 131 | 15 | 6806 | 58.67 | 256 | 20 | 35 | 5 |
| WR Hammond | 85 | 140 | 16 | 7249 | 58.45 | 336* | 22 | 24 | 4 |
| GS Sobers | 93 | 160 | 21 | 8032 | 57.78 | 365* | 26 | 30 | 12 |
| KC Sangakkara | 134 | 233 | 17 | 12400 | 57.40 | 319 | 38 | 52 | 11 |
| L Hutton | 79 | 138 | 15 | 6971 | 56.67 | 364 | 19 | 33 | 5 |
| SR Tendulkar | 200 | 329 | 33 | 15921 | 53.78 | 248* | 51 | 68 | 14 |
| V Kohli | 86 | 145 | 10 | 7240 | 53.62 | 254* | 27 | 22 | 10 |
| BC Lara | 131 | 232 | 6 | 11953 | 52.88 | 400* | 34 | 48 | 17 |
| RT Ponting | 168 | 287 | 29 | 13378 | 51.85 | 257 | 41 | 62 | 17 |
I chose Barrington, Sutcliffe and Sobers for their high average, Hammond, Sangakkara, Kohli and Lara for their tendency to make big, big hundreds and the others for their general importance on the batting pantheon.
And here are their innings split into the groupings:
| Player | Inns | Inn0 | InnSub20 | Inn20+ | Inn50+ | Inn100+ | Inn150+ | Inn200+ | Inn300+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 80 | 7 | 22 | 58 | 42 | 29 | 18 | 12 | 2 |
| SPD Smith | 131 | 4 | 45 | 86 | 55 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| H Sutcliffe | 84 | 2 | 18 | 66 | 39 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| KF Barrington | 131 | 5 | 44 | 87 | 55 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| WR Hammond | 140 | 4 | 43 | 97 | 46 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| GS Sobers | 160 | 12 | 56 | 104 | 56 | 26 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| KC Sangakkara | 233 | 11 | 86 | 147 | 90 | 38 | 19 | 11 | 1 |
| L Hutton | 138 | 5 | 48 | 90 | 52 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| SR Tendulkar | 329 | 14 | 136 | 193 | 119 | 51 | 20 | 6 | 0 |
| V Kohli | 145 | 10 | 60 | 85 | 49 | 27 | 10 | 7 | 0 |
| BC Lara | 232 | 17 | 97 | 135 | 82 | 34 | 19 | 9 | 2 |
| RT Ponting | 287 | 17 | 107 | 180 | 103 | 41 | 15 | 6 | 0 |
So, there are two ways we can look at this data, percentage distribution and conversion rates.
Percentage Distribution
With this we can ask the question, how often does Bradman get a duck or fail to get a start compared to other batsmen? How often does Bradman get a start? And then what does he do with that start?
First, percentage distribution of ducks (ranked by most frequent scorers of 0):
| Player | Inns | Inn0 | %0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 80 | 7 | 8.75% |
| GS Sobers | 160 | 12 | 7.50% |
| BC Lara | 232 | 17 | 7.33% |
| V Kohli | 145 | 10 | 6.90% |
| RT Ponting | 287 | 17 | 5.92% |
| KC Sangakkara | 233 | 11 | 4.72% |
| SR Tendulkar | 329 | 14 | 4.26% |
| KF Barrington | 131 | 5 | 3.82% |
| L Hutton | 138 | 5 | 3.62% |
| SPD Smith | 131 | 4 | 3.05% |
| WR Hammond | 140 | 4 | 2.86% |
| H Sutcliffe | 84 | 2 | 2.38% |
Aha! So, the supposed best batsmen of all time gets out for nought the most. Interesting. But this isn’t the whole story, what is the difference between getting 0 and 1? Not a whole lot.
So now, how often does Bradman fail to get a start? Percentage distribution of starts (ranked by most frequent starters):
| Player | Inns | Inn20+ | %20+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| H Sutcliffe | 84 | 66 | 78.57% |
| DG Bradman | 80 | 58 | 72.50% |
| WR Hammond | 140 | 97 | 69.29% |
| KF Barrington | 131 | 87 | 66.51% |
| SPD Smith | 131 | 86 | 65.65% |
| L Hutton | 138 | 90 | 65.22% |
| GS Sobers | 160 | 104 | 65% |
| KC Sangakkara | 233 | 147 | 63.09% |
| RT Ponting | 287 | 180 | 62.72% |
| SR Tendulkar | 329 | 193 | 58.66% |
| V Kohli | 145 | 85 | 58.62% |
| BC Lara | 232 | 135 | 58.19% |
Bradman gets a start most of the time, but not significantly more than others. In fact, he doesn’t even top the list. Now we know who fails and who succeeds, but crucial to Bradman’s success is what he does with the start.
Finally, percentage distribution of 50+, 100+, 150+, 200+ and 300+ (ranked by batting average as it would be too much to put these into separate tables):
| Player | Inns | %50+ | %100+ | %150+ | %200+ | %300+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 80 | 52.50% | 36.25% | 22.50% | 15% | 2.50% |
| SPD Smith | 131 | 41.98% | 19.85% | 6.11% | 2.29% | 0% |
| H Sutcliffe | 84 | 46.43% | 19.05% | 4.76% | 0% | 0% |
| KF Barrington | 131 | 41.98% | 15.27% | 3.05% | 0.76% | 0% |
| WR Hammond | 140 | 32.86% | 15.71% | 7.14% | 5% | 0.71% |
| GS Sobers | 160 | 35% | 16.25% | 6.88% | 1.25% | 0.63% |
| KC Sangakkara | 233 | 38.63% | 16.31% | 8.15% | 4.72% | 0.43% |
| L Hutton | 138 | 37.68% | 13.76% | 7.25% | 2.90% | 0.72% |
| SR Tendulkar | 329 | 36.17% | 15.50% | 6.08% | 1.82% | 0% |
| V Kohli | 145 | 33.79% | 18.62% | 6.90% | 4.83% | 0% |
| BC Lara | 232 | 35.34% | 14.66% | 8.19% | 3.88% | 0.86% |
| RT Ponting | 287 | 35.89% | 14.29% | 5.23% | 2.09% | 0% |
So clearly, Bradman turns his starts into fifties more than others, but not at a Bradmanesque level, but his conversion rate and willingness to make 150s and beyond is where he stands above. The percentage distribution is one way to look at it. But there is another helpful way.
Conversion Rates
How often batsmen move from one grouping to the next:
| Player | 20->50 | 50->100 | 100->150 | 150->200 | 200->300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 72.41% | 69.05% | 62.07% | 66.67% | 16.67% |
| SPD Smith | 63.95% | 47.27% | 30.77% | 37.50% | 0% |
| H Sutcliffe | 59.09% | 41.03% | 25% | 0% | 0% |
| KF Barrington | 63.22% | 36.36% | 20% | 25% | 0% |
| WR Hammond | 47.42% | 47.83% | 45.45% | 70% | 14.29% |
| GS Sobers | 53.85% | 46.43% | 42.31% | 18.18% | 50% |
| KC Sangakkara | 61.22% | 42.22% | 50% | 57.89% | 9.09% |
| L Hutton | 57.78% | 36.54% | 52.63% | 40% | 25% |
| SR Tendulkar | 61.66% | 42.86% | 39.22% | 30% | 0% |
| V Kohli | 57.65% | 55.10% | 37.04% | 70% | 0% |
| BC Lara | 60.74% | 41.46% | 55.88% | 47.37% | 22.22% |
| RT Ponting | 57.22% | 39.81% | 36.59% | 40% | 0% |
How often a batsman turns a start into various groupings:
| Player | 20->50 | 20->100 | 20->150 | 20->200 | 20->300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG Bradman | 72.41% | 50% | 31.03% | 20.69% | 3.45% |
| SPD Smith | 63.95% | 30.23% | 9.30% | 3.49% | 0% |
| H Sutcliffe | 59.09% | 24.24% | 6.06% | 0% | 0% |
| KF Barrington | 63.22% | 22.99% | 4.60% | 1.15% | 0% |
| WR Hammond | 47.42% | 22.68% | 10.31% | 7.22% | 1.03% |
| GS Sobers | 53.85% | 25% | 10.58% | 1.92% | 0.96% |
| KC Sangakkara | 61.22% | 25.85% | 12.93% | 7.48% | 0.68% |
| L Hutton | 57.78% | 21.11% | 11.11% | 4.44% | 1.11% |
| SR Tendulkar | 61.66% | 26.42% | 10.36% | 3.11% | 0% |
| V Kohli | 57.65% | 31.76% | 11.76% | 8.24% | 0% |
| BC Lara | 60.74% | 25.19% | 14.07% | 6.67% | 1.48% |
| RT Ponting | 57.22% | 22.78% | 8.33% | 3.33% | 0% |
So, here is where Bradman truly pulls ahead of the lot. He got the same amount of starts as other top-class batsmen, but he truly made it count. There are also some noticeable patterns. Herbert Sutcliffe could have been truly great (not that he isn’t), but he often got more starts than Bradman, but he has only 4 scores of 150 or more, and 0 times past 200. Also evident is that Kohli often gets out early, but again makes it count, as well as Hammond. Cheers.
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